


Reunion

by Moonluster



Series: Transcendence [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Prideshipping, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:07:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23415037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonluster/pseuds/Moonluster
Summary: Rating for suicide, death, and language.Seto explains to Atem why he came for him, tries not to cry, and gets told off by a teen Pharaoh. Unexpectedly and begrudgingly, Seto complies.
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi
Series: Transcendence [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684291
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I was originally using this to do a trial run of the series you’re seeing now, but unfortunately, my mind had other ideas for this piece in mind...and I’m glad for it, tbh. It makes a nice starter and gives me the confidence to pursue the rest of my idea. That said, I hope you enjoy it! Also, shoutout to HikariWolf (Wolf) (my brother) for editing this!

“You came,” Atem spoke, his voice reverberating through the throne room chamber, just as strong and powerful as I had remembered it. 

_I knew the AI wouldn’t stand up to the real thing._

His presence was nearly overwhelming and would have been to any other person, considering he was essentially the son of the sun god in the Egyptian religion. I felt no such intimidation. He was no more a god or godlike being to me than any other. 

“You didn’t think you could take off from the living world without one, final, duel?” I taunted, hoping he’d take the bait as he had done so effortlessly, time and time again. 

I’d recited this entire interaction in my head more than a hundred times, shouting my thoughts and feelings at the mirrored image of my rival, who was standing before me now.

However, something changed when I finally faced him. 

While my heart was racing just as it had in previous times that we faced one another, the same passion running like blood through my veins, something else was there. A feeling I didn’t want to acknowledge, not especially at this pivotal moment. 

He chuckled, turning his face away from me, the rays of the sun still shrouding most of his form, “you never give up, do you? You followed me, even through the veil of death.” He faced me again as he took a few steps down from his throne, his form became clearer to me as he did so. 

My vision darkened ever so slightly as I squinted at him, trying to catch a glimpse of his face, my jaw tightening before I spoke, “of course I did! Did you think our road of destiny, Battle City--” I caught myself before I said anything more, swallowing a knot that had been forming at the back of my throat. _No, you can’t. Not now, ESPECIALLY now. Show more strength and self-restraint than that, coward._

Now in the shadowed area of the throne room, standing not more than 10 feet across from me, I took in the details of Yuugi’s face:

He was not smiling, his brow furrowed ever so slightly, his gaze trained on me. My breath stopped for a moment in my throat; his eyes, which I had previously thought were pure purple, were actually dyed a red tint in addition to it, just like the streaks at the ends of his hair. I wondered, for a moment, if he had always looked so radiant, or if it was some kind of magical force that was acting upon him in the realm of the afterlife. Either way, he had changed. 

Yuugi, not the pharaoh Yuugi, but Yuugi Mutou, had looked upon me with such an expression before. It was a look of...pity, of concern. This look I so desperately loathed coming from anyone but Mokuba. 

Before I could react, he started again, “I did not. I--”

I snapped in the middle of his sentence, “then why the hell did you leave without me knowing where you went, you bastard!” 

_Shit. No, you were supposed to be calmer about this. No vulnerability. Get yourself together!_

He was stunned into silence. The burning behind my eyes, as stinging as the Egyptian desert sand, threatened to bring forth the river building in the dam of my heart. I maintained myself, not daring to let it show. Not to him.

He moved his lips to speak, a stupid deer-in-the-headlights look, but I cut him off, “it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m here now, and I came to continue this legacy, to pave the road we built together!” 

I thrust my arm forward, bent at the elbow, the holographic disk appearing, and his wide-eyed, idiotic face of surprise and sympathy melted into a familiar one I realized I’d missed. The one where he smiled, as did his eyes. His voice was warm and content as he commented, “a new Duel Disk, Seto? You never cease to amaze me.” 

The corners of my lips couldn’t help but tug themselves upward at the observation. I made my way over to him and presented him with the same model of Duel Disk I gave to Yuugi before our last battle. I showed him how to put the devices on, without touching him too much. He thanked me, to which I hummed and made my way across the room to the spot where I’d previously been. 

When I turned around, I noticed the measurements I had used were...off. I had thought that perhaps Yuugi Mutou and this Yuugi were the same sizes, but it appears that the real Yuugi was far...larger, in some respects than the other.

_I’ll have to make him a model of his own. That is if I survive the visit._

“This is it, Yuugi! This is where I will finally defeat you!”

All he did was grin at me, and the duel commenced. 

~////~

“Kch!” 

The utterance escaped me as I fell on my knee, hearing the beeping sound of my life points deplete to zero. The holographics on both sides of the field faded into particles, then into nothingness. My teeth were clenched so hard I thought they might break, but I didn’t give a shit. 

“Well done once again, Kaiba,” Yuugi congratulated me in the way he always had, but I was not encouraged. 

I felt myself snap at his accolade, rising from where I’d fallen, and my voice bursting from within my chest, “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN ‘WELL DONE’?! I lost! Again!” I barely paused as I took another breath, something visceral coming forth as I screamed, “after all that time pondering, planning, shouting at my thoughts until my throat and lungs were shot,” I felt my gaze follow to Yuugi’s face, though not comprehending his expression through my haze of anguish, “all this work, and I still can’t manage to best you?!”

Something welled up behind my eyes and I shook my head furiously to push it back. 

_Not now! He can’t see me like this!_

“Kaiba...” I heard Yuugi say, his voice still clear, though full of kindness--which I wanted to vomit at, “you did more than that.” 

I said nothing and turned away from him as he continued, “you somehow managed to transcend death, and possibly the realms in between. That is more than enough victory. Besides, you have infinite chances to defeat me.”

“Tch!” I hissed through my teeth, not daring to face him directly, staring at a far-off pillar, “ _you_ might think so, but it’s not enough for me.”

“Our path doesn’t end here, remember? You said it yourself,” He reminded me, speaking gently, I wanted to make him stop, but I couldn’t bring myself to move much less speak, “right now, what you’ve done here, that you’re present in a place that you shouldn’t be, is more than enough proof that you have done more than simply win in a game of cards.”

“You don’t understand, Yuugi-,” 

“Atem.”

My eyes widened as my vision snapped back to him, his face unreadable, “what?”

“My real name...it’s Atem,” He repeated quietly. 

“...I see,” I sighed, feeling my shoulders loosen a little, but my fists were still clenched, “Atem, you don’t understand what loss, losing, is like for me.”

He inquired, “it isn’t the end of the world, surely?” 

I retorted harshly again, feeling my heart tighten, “it’s the end of life! If you lose, you die! That’s it, you’re nothing!”

“What...?” He widened his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly, incredulous, “Kaiba, that doesn’t make any sense.” 

“It wouldn’t, to you,” I growled, turning my back to him entirely this time, arms crossing as I stared into the space in front of me. 

Something akin to a flashback played back to me in the forefront of my mind, a vile thing I swore I’d forgotten. 

_‘Did I learn what you wanted, ‘father’?’ I’d smirked. His disgusting face twisted from anger to disbelief, to resolve. When it settled, he turned toward the window beyond where we stood and looked back at me for the last time before he said, “burn this into your mind, Seto. This is what it means to lose.”_

_The glass exploded, flying all around, a massive hole in the window where he had gone through. I stood from my seat in the aftermath, stood at the window and gazed through the hole in which he had made going through, looked down, and saw nothing but his insignificant, now lifeless body on the ground below, as small as an ant._

It was then I learned: losing means the ultimate end. The end is death. Which meant, if I wanted to avoid dying, then I should never, ever lose. 

I came back to the world around me, the memory coming to a close. I spoke up after a deep breath, “...I have cheated death by losing so many times...and living. I can’t understand how it happened, how it continues to happen, even now.”

There was a pregnant silence between us as if he didn’t know what to do with the info I gave him. As if I can expect him to comprehend it. 

I continued, turning to face him once more, “you did this to me, Atem. You killed me that day when we dueled the first time. I felt the sensation of death running through me,” I could feel my shoulders tremble, my eyes still trained on him and clenching my fist again, “and I was terrified.”

“...Indeed,” his brow furrowed as he averted his reddened gaze from me. I could barely make out his expression, “...I didn’t know, and I...I’m so--”

“Don’t,” I replied flatly, “I don’t need the apology.”

“But I was wrong! I had the best of intentions for you, to help you because I saw you were hurting and lost, and...I thought I...” I noticed his fist clench, I said nothing as I waited for him to finish, “even if you don’t accept it, it doesn’t mean I was right to do what I did, and so, I will still offer my deepest apologies. It’s a guilt I may never be rid of,” he faced me again, and I swore I could see a gleam in his eyes, or was that the sun? Whatever it was, it was gone in the same amount of time I noticed it. 

“...I don’t need your empathy.” _Liar._ “I don’t need the apology,” I repeated. _Wrong._ “And I don’t need your guilt, either.” _Not even close._

I could see his face twisting and he struggled to say whatever it was that was on his mind, but in the end, he decided not to let it be said. Instead, he opted to change the topic, stepping toward me, “so, what happens now? What will you do now that you’ve made it across the boundary of death?”

I replied plainly, “I didn’t plan on returning home after this.”

His eyes widened as he stopped before me, mouth slightly agape, “what?”

I sneered, “you heard me.”

“No, unacceptable,” His gaze narrowed, and I mirrored him.

“You have people waiting for you back in the other life! What about Mokuba? Your company?” He demanded, his voice betraying rising anger, to which I steeled myself against. 

“All in capable hands,” I huffed, turning my face away from him. He closed the distance between us and put a hand on one of my crossed arms, which sent a shock through my body, my nerves feeling as if they were pulling away from the surface of my skin. I shuddered in disgust at the sensation, “don’t touch me!” I side-stepped away from him, stilling myself against a stumble, then straightened up again, still not looking at him directly. “Besides, what does it matter to _you?_ ”

“You can’t ignore your responsibilities, Kaiba! You’re an important figure to many people, you can’t just leave them, the same way I cannot leave my duty to my people, even in the afterlife!” He wasn’t kidding around, and his tone was not only firm but insistent. 

“I’ve already made up my mind,” I growled, glancing back at him for a moment to read his face, but didn’t get a long enough of a look to do so. I could already sense the intensity of his anger toward me, which admittedly sent a shiver of fear down my spine. I recognized it as a threat, but I knew better. This was not my father. This was Atem, who was nothing like him in any way. 

“No. If you respect me as your rival, as your friend--which is what _I_ consider us--you WILL go back. If you don’t, I won’t allow you in again. My guards are always ready and able to throw any intruder out.”

“So, I’m an intruder now?” I felt rage building in my body.

_How dare he present such an ultimatum to me like this?!_

“What makes you think I’ll listen to you like some sniveling servant?!” 

“I’m not ordering you as a ‘servant’, Kaiba. I’m telling you this because I care about you. I know no other way to communicate my desires,” The last statement seemed like an admittance of fault, but I mentally brushed over it. 

Despite his annoying insistence, he had a point. I couldn’t stay here much longer. I made a mental note that my entire body, especially my head, was beginning to weigh down with exhaustion, muscles straining and trembling. _Good timing..._

Inevitably, I would have to return...or die and live here. Or maybe I wouldn’t even stay here. Maybe I would end up in some other dimension, an endless void, where people like me go when they’ve defiled the order of nature, of time and space. Purgatory, as some western faiths called it.

“...Fine, but only because our shared fate calls for it,” I finally grumbled, it was unbelieving of myself to be so yielding to his commands.

He grinned at me, giving me a thumbs up, “I look forward to it, Kaiba! In the meantime, get some rest, and tell Mokuba I said ‘hi’.” 

“Hn, sure,” I replied quietly, finding the one button I thought I wouldn’t press, which would launch me back into my past dimension again.

“See you in a while!” He beamed at me, and I nodded in return, trying not to grin back as I pressed the fated switch.


End file.
